Finally retired
by Your Saltyness
Summary: A man cannot do anything against a god. At least Sojiro thought so before he was involved with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Now, he believes in much more, even in overcoming the odds and overpowering a god. But what about a godess? (warnings: This fic has no action. It is purely dialogue. The Phantom Thieves won't show up. I know little about Touhou, only know what's in fanfics.)
1. An unexpected favor

"So basically, what you're telling me is that the job I had was _this_ important?"

"Yes. Though none of you knew it, you were helping the Ministry."

"Oh boy, that's quite the bomb drop. So I've been part of a company working under yours then?"

"Yes, and as such you will be granted some advantages. Were your karma in the negative it would have been raised, but your ex-job isn't the most important part of it."

"Let me guess. Is it hosting the kid?"

The lady in front of Sojiro nodded.

The old man didn't know who she was, name or anything, neither where they were. But what he knew was that he died in his sleep as peacefully as a man could die from lung cancer, damn cigarettes, and that what he had done seemed to have granted him favors from the... Apparently the organization that runs people's deaths.

"Indeed, hosting the savior of mankind is the biggest source of good karma and favors you have."

Sojiro rubbed the back of his head akwardly, letting out a sigh.  
"He helped me far more than I helped him, but I guess that allowing him to live in my shop's attic is enough. So... What kind of favors are we talking about?"

"We can send you wherever, except back in your home normally since you've been dead for too long. You can also ask for something to be copied and brought along with you."

The deceaced rubbed his chin thoughtfully before a gleam lit his eyes. The gleam of one that has an idea.  
"... Can I be brought to someone I know?"

* * *

Reimu was tired. And that was an understatement. She woke up and took a broom as Sanae came to help clean up the shrine, but now she was simply wanting a break, maybe a drink and a snack. She went to the human village, wanting to take a walk through the lonely dark streets where she knew silence would be found so she could make peace with the flies living in her empty wallet.

A few minutes after she set foot on the ground once more and followed with her plan, a strange smell reached her, which she identified as coffee. She smelled it before at the Scarlet Mansion and at the Moria Shrine, but she never saw or tasted it. Once she was done daydreaming, Reimu found herself in front of a strange building that she didn't notice before. It had walls of unnaturally smooth stone (concrete) walls with some colored paint over it to make it blend in more and it's roof was obviously built on top of the one that came with the building at first, most likely to blend in, once again. The glass plane windows showed the inside, but she didn't want to be rude so she instead walked over to the door that had the sign turned to "open" and opened it, making a bell ring softly.

A single foot was inside and she was hit with a feeling she is knew a bit: the serenity that one could only feel under their futon with a warm cup of tea as they listened to a heavy rain trying yet failing to break inside. Well, she thought so until now. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and her shoulder lost the tenseness they were so used to that they forgot about it. Describing the interior wouldn't do it justice, but she didn't even know half of what's in here anyway. It was really small but didn't need to be big, in fact, it would only take some of the feeling out.

The miko's eyes finally fell on the man behind the counter, her senses attracted by the rustling of the newspaper being set down.

"Welcome."

Had Reimu not seen the man yet, she would have began to daydream about what the owner of the smoothest, milkiest voice she ever heard would look like. But she wasn't disappointed, since it belonged to it's owner in every way.

The man was in his late 50's, if she was right. She didn't often ask for one's age so she had no real point of reference. His slick ebony black hair was pulled back while his goatee was pulled forward and he might have not had the friendliest face, since it was in a neutral expression, but it was far from uninviting. What caught her eye the most though were his clothes. Aside from the apron, a plain white shirt and grey pants were the last things she expected a human to wear, though it could fit on a few youkai.

The man sighed, looking slightly irritated.  
"Look miss, I know that I'm quite attractive," they both knew that it was ironic flirting, "but I'm running a business here. Either you buy something either you leave."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. And... I don't have any money either."

A more irritated sigh purred through his throat.  
"You know what? I'm feeling generous. You're my first client so I'll give you an order for free, but only one."

"Oh, thank you then. I've never had any coffee so I'll have to trust your choice on this."

"Well, it can be quite bitter. Are you fine with that?"

Reimu took a moment to think.  
"Hm... Yeah, as long as it's not too bad."

The man nodded and went to grab some brown beans that the shrine maiden guessed to be coffee. She was slightly surprised when she saw the owner grund them into a thick powder, putting it in a wierdly shaped paper and then boiling water.

"Uh... What's your name sir?"

"My name is Sojiro Sakura, but please call me boss."  
He had a proud smile on his face.

"Well then... Boss, I'm Reimu Hakurei. You must know me as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden or one of the two Incident solvers."

Sojiro merely sighed as the water began to boil.  
"I don't know you, sorry. And even if I did, I wouldn't care."

_Hang on.  
_"You don't know me? With your wierd clothes and items on top... Do you come from the Outside?"

"I guess? I was granted a place here by the Ministry of whatever."

Reimu coughed with shock.  
"Y-you were granted something like _that_ by the Ministry?!"

He raised an eyebrow.  
"Is it that unusual?"

"Yes!"

The man shrugged and poured the boiling water on the grinded beans. Reimu could see the water seep through the grind then the paper and finally come out as a relatovely thick brown color. What was the paper and grinding for? Another look revealed the grind being stuck in it. So it must be here to avoid drinking that straight up.

"You never seen coffee being made before? Oh wait, a shrine maiden and never drank coffee... You never have, have you?"

She shook her head.

"Well, it might be simple but it's really good. Trust me on that."

Reimu sighs and almost sat back in her seat but she remembered that it's a stool at the last moment.  
"Sure."

Sojiro waited a bit for the paper to stop leaking before taking it and throwing it in a metal trash can. It was really shiny, but she didn't understand why it was made of metal.  
"Sugar, honey or milk? It's really bitter right now so I'll have to put something to sweeten it."

"Oh, uh..."

After a moment of reflection, she made her choice.  
"Honey please."

He nodded and went to get a small glass jar half full of honey, two spoons and two white cups. Reimu observed as he filled each cup and put a spoon in one before getting the other to get honey in it then putting it in the other, which he handed to her.  
"Careful, it's hot. Also you'll have to mix the honey in, won't be instantaneous."

The miko took her cup by the handle. It wasn't the shape she was used to, being much more cylindrical and tall than the comparable to semi-spheres ones she was used to. There was, because of this, more liquid than she expected, and it was heavier, but it was also easier to hold since the handle was bigger.

"I'm not _that_ dumb, you know?"

"You're never too careful."

Just as Reimu was going to start blowing on her drink, the door slammed open. Boss merely frowned and raised his voice.

"Careful with the door. If you break it, you'll have to pay it back."  
But, even as his voice got surprisingly intimidating, he got no attention.

"**Reimu, I will break you in half!**"

The red clad girl only sighed.

"Sanae, I was just taking a break."

Sanae's face was completely red in anger, contrasting against her white green and blue clothing and features. Such a cute girl trying to look angry. It was only cuter.  
"Bullcrap! I have been alone in your shrine for an hour now!"

Reimu merely started spinning her spoon in her cup.  
"Sorry about that then."

"Sorry? **Sorry!?** Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

Sojiro sighed deeply.  
"If you girls are going to fight, take it outside."

Sanae was in no mood to hear him though Reimu nodded.

"Come on, there's a roof here. 3 hits 3 cards?"

"I'll beat you up no matter the rules!"

Sojiro didn't understand what they were talking about but was relieved that they would go outside of his shop, not breaking anything.

As Reimu grabbed the door that he missed Sanae burst out from, the calm one of the two turned towards him.  
"Wanna come watch the fireworks? You'll see how stuff is settled here."

He waved his hand to shoo her away.  
"I like to keep fireworks for special occasions. Sorry."

Reimu nodded.  
"It's fine. I'll come back, mind mixing the honey in while I'm gone?"

Sojiro merely eyed her with a look asking if she was serious so she merely held her hands up.

"It was just a question. See you in a bit."

The man only sighed.

* * *

Three minutes.

The match lasted three minutes.

These things usually last longer but Sanae was so mad that she couldn't focus on herself. She almost flew into many bullets and actually flew into the three that hit her. She was more focused on trying to hit Reimu than on not getting hit herself.

Oh well, more time for calm in the store she guesses.

When Reimu entered the place, she found that not much has changed, even if Boss took up a newspaper to read. Thing is, it was different from the one he was reading when she first came in. It seemed to be... Not from Gensokyo. From Japan apparently, Tokyo to be exact.  
"So, uh... Hello again."

Sojiro looked up and at her.  
"Oh. You're back. How'd it go?"  
He folded his newspaper and handed her her cup. Reimu took it and wrapped her hands around it after confirming that it cooled down enough for her to do so.

"It went great. These things usually last longer but Sanae was so pissed off, she couldn't tell which bullet was hers and which was mine."

Sokiro raised an eyebrow at the word bullet but not much more.  
"Alright then. Don't forget your spoon."

He handed her the item. Reimu took the spoon with a nod and began mixing the honey with her coffee. She was already in love with it's smell but when she finally took a sip, she went wide eyed. Sure, she coughed a little at how bitter it still was, even with honey, but the taste was out of this world. It was the best thing she ever had in her mouth and she even had to stare at it to make sure that it was still coffee and not some sort of... Heaven juice.

"So you like it?"

Reimu looked up at Sojiro, still a little dazed, and shook her head.  
"That's... An understatment. Geez, this stuff is... Wow."

"Heh. Just you wait until you try it with my curry then."

The miko blinked a bit.  
"Curry? I'm not sure that'd be the best fit with this."

"You'd be surprised."

* * *

**I know, a calm crossover isn't the most popular, most want the action, and I don't even have Joker or any of the Pantom Thieves in there, but... This felt right. It felt at least better than just "oh wow PT in Touhou, let's let Joker get a harem of every girl in Gensokyo haha". Not that there's anything wrong with it, in fact, sorry for dumbing it down that much and making fun of it, it can make for a good story. But I wanted to try something else, something different.**

**Anyway, farewell, my subject,**

**Your Saltyness.**


	2. Some kind of offer

**Warning: this chapter will have 2 things you might want to be aware of.****1: I am going to try and give Reimu a character past "haha lazy gal" so she might not be in character with what you're used to.**

**2: This character might shock some as it is a bit or two kinda dark.**

* * *

Surprised is an understatement.

Reimu was absolutely stunned at how good Sojiro's curry was and how well it went with his coffee. And, soon enough, she found herself being addicted. Whenever she got a donation, the next moment it was gifted in exchange for coffee. Boss gave her increasingly worried stares since she was spending all of the money she got at his establishment.

After a few day, he made a decision.

"Say, Reimu, since you like being here so much, how about you work for me?"

This was not something Reimu expected to hear that day so she almost spat out her coffee.

"Wh-what? But I'm not qualified at all!"

Sojiro merely shrugged.

"I've had an unqualified teenager help me before. He turned out to be almost as good as me."

Boss had a smile of nostalgia mixed with a bit of pride, maybe even narcissism.

"But why? There aren't too many clients, are there?"

"It's mostly just for the company."

Reimu did not like it. She let out a sigh of frustration and started to think. She did love it here and working here would mean spending her days in this surprisingly wonderful place, but she has responsabilities as a shrine maiden and youkai exterminator. At least she thinks so... Does she really have so many responsibilities? Nobody even comes to her most of the time... Is she really doing a good job?

"Uh... You okay there? I didn't expect to shock you so much."

Reimu came back to her senses to find herself panting, almost hyperventilating.

"O-oh... Sorry, I..."

She failed. Again. She can't succeed. It's why she stopped trying. But she learned to dry her tears long ago.

"Just some bad thoughts."

And she gave her best fake smile.

"If you're having intrusive thoughts then you might need some help. Are there even any therapists here?"

"Ther... Thera-what?"

Need help? Of course. She can't do anything by herself.

"Basically someone who's job it is to help those with mental problems. Listen. Whatever you're thinking, it's not true."

She was back to her hyperventilating befire she stormed out.

"You don't know anything about me!"

* * *

The lake is the most peaceful place she knows of. A mirror for the sky, a place where heaven and Earth meet. It's pretty soothing.

Well, as soothing as it could be for Reimu as she tried skipping rocks across the water, causing the only disturbance on the surface. But she couldn't go past a single skip every once in a while.

"I'm useless... Useless and stupid. I can't even skip rocks properly..."

She was mostly shocked and confused. After all, this was the first time in her life that someone saw her not as the "Hakurei Shrine maiden, youkai exterminator and incident resolver", but as Reimu Hakurei, a girl with a bit too much on her shoulders. So you can't really blame her for running away from the unknown. The unknown is scary for anyone.

"It's always at a water source, huh?"

She quickly turned around to see Boss walking towards her at a relaxed pace. A part of her mind wanted to apologise and pour her heart out to the first man who saw her as herself but the other wanted to run away until she fainted from whatever. Just go as far away as possible. But her legs froze and her throat tightened so neither were possible.

"Listen. I'm not here to hear you apologise. In fact, I'm the one who's sorry. I rushed you with no warning and forgot that this is a very different community with a very different way of life, so... My offer still stands if you ever need it, but you can take as long as you need to think about it."

While he looked embarrassed and genuinely sorry, Reimu was almost tearing up. An apology too? This is already too much damnit.

"Why should you be the one saying sorry? I'm the one who ran for no reason."

She threw yet another rock that skipped across the water once as she sighed softly.

"Many people do that. My café ended up as a place for those who ran away blindly to gather strength and courage to go fight later on. It wasn't because of me, but I'd like to help you that way, even if it doesn't mean much to you in the end."

He set a hand on her shoulder and sat down next to her.

"I'm... Not that good at words. But I'm ready to try and help you if needed."

She could just swat his hand away. She could just stay silent and run. But something about Sojiro was... Calming. Soothing. He didn't feel like his café, she realised that it's the contrary. His café feels like him. And it felt like... A father figure. Someone strong she could look up to and rely on. So, instead of running away and risking his dissaproval, she let out a single sob.

"It's... A long story."

"Then I'll listen. You look like you need a bit to recover, so I'll let you be for now. I'll give you a free cup tommorow, how does that sound?"

She nodded.

"See you tommorow then."

Reimu had made up her mind.

"Oh, and I can't even skip a rock once, so good job on that."

And now she was confused and embarrassed again.

* * *

That cup felt great. It felt incredible even.

"I'll take the job."

"Are you sure? It might get annoying and hard sometimes."

"I'll handle. I've done worse, believe me."

"If you say so. I'll ask one thing though. I'd like to make you a uniform so I'll need your sizes."

Reimu blinked a bit and sighed. That might get a bit akward.

* * *

**I am so sorry that this feels rushed and that it is short. I didn't know how to do it otherwise, I don't want to risk going into Lazy Mode (tm) and not update in 4 years and all that. Please, give me tips and criticism on how I tried writing "Anxiety and fear of failure Reimu" and the father/daughter relationship I'm trying to start (it's not romantic you sick idiots).****Anyway, farewell, my subjects.****Your Saltyness.**


	3. Happiness is in the small things

**Funny how life works, huh? I ended up going into Lazy Mode (tm) anyway. My bad.**

* * *

A while passed. A month, nearly two, but he finally got what he asked for. An official package from the Ministry of Right and Wrong came at his doorstep and he put it behind the counter until the evening when he faked closing for Reimu to be able to come without fear of being recognised and learn a little about brewing coffee. Curry was to come soon, but not right now. Today was the day she'd be officially employed.

At around 9:30pm, the lady clad in red and white came in, making the bell ring softly, and her shoulders fell as she took a deep breath.  
"So, what's it gonna be today Boss?"

"Today is a little more special than you think Reimu."  
He picked up the package and put it on the counter.  
"If I'm not wrong, then this is your uniform."

The maiden blinked a few times as the owner opened the cardboard box with a pair of scissors. Turns out he was right, but there was something she really did not expect to be part of the uniform on top of it.

"Glasses?"  
She picked them up.  
"Why are there glasses?"

"A while ago, I learned that something as simple as glasses can hide someone's identity really well. Put them on and go in the attic, I think there's an old mirror there. You'll also be able to change up there, see if the uniform fits."

Reimu nodded and grabbed the box of cloth with the second pair of eyes back on top of it. When she reached the attic and set the box down, she lookd around for the mirror her mentor told her about. After a single minute of searching and almost panicking over her inability of finding something as simple as a mirror, she found it and put it on the matress that was there for some reason. She fumbled around a bit with the glasses before putting them in front of her eyes. It felt uncomfortable on her ears, but when she looked at her reflexion, she saw what Boss meant. She really did look somewhat different and guessed that with the clothing change, it'd be even better, so she got to that.

A pair of black, somewhat loose jeans, a light gray long sleeved button-up shirt and a dirty green apron. She put them on, aside from the apron since that was for the cooking, obviously, and looked at herself once more. She looked somewhat different, again, but it was still recognisable as her. And when she put the glasses on as well, she looked like her own sibling. It was so strange, almost surreal. She knew that it was her image in the mirror, but it didn't look exactly like her. That way, at least, she wouldn't be regognised, she guessed as she made her way back down.

"Ah, you're done. You look good. Does it suit you?"

"I'm not used to pants but I'm glad that they don't make my hips stand out for perverts as much as skirts honestly and the glasses are... Not too comfortable. It's great otherwise."

"Ah, you'll get used to it."  
The man used to wearing glasses looked Reimu up and down.  
"There's still something. Mind taking your ribbon off?"

The employee was a little confused but obliged, making her employer nod with approval.

"Perfect. That ribbon is really recognisable, so yeah."

She nodded in understanding.  
"I put my clothes in the box for now, is that alright?"

The man nodded back.  
"I'm going to go buy some cigarettes, you can walk around to get used to the outfit for now. Hell, feel free to leave the café and explore, I won't be outside for long after all."

Reimu wasn't sure about this. Going outside dressed like this was still a no from her for now, but she guesses she could spend a bit of time waling around in the establishment and brewing some more to get a bit more experience. So, for the next half hour, she was just doing what she got used to doing for the past two months: walk around to get familiar with the place, though she focused on the attic now after the almost-an-incident, and make some coffee for herself. After Sojiro came back, they would just chat about culture, society, technology and people they know. They were still getting to know each other after all.

"Oh, now that I think about it, will you come to the Flower Viewing Festival in a week? I know that you're not too into these kinds of things, but at least to see what the people I tell you about look like."

"How can you be so sure that they'll be there?"

"Everyone in Gensokyo comes for the sight, the people or at least the sake, so..."

"Everyone?"  
Sojiro had a strange look of interest all of a sudden.

"I don't think I've ever met someone who doesn't go to these, no."  
It wasn't her place to ask.

The mature man began stroking his chin, deep in thought.

"Alright then. Oh, look at the time... I'll have to close up for real very soon. You can go in either outfit, but if you go in this one, try not to fly and do look like a normal human please."

"I'm... Not ready to go out like this yet, sorry."

The man nodded in understanding.  
"Go change back then."

She nodded back and went back up into the attic. It still felt a little akward to have to change mid-day in her boss' attic, but she managed. And when she put her usual outfit on and moved in it again, she realised just how much of a pain it was. Too complex, goes everywhere, and now she had to conciously avoid tripping whereas she usually didn't notice her attempts at that. The work outfit was much more comfortable, much more simple and it didn't even show skin at every possible attempt. Seriously, who designed this thing? A pervert? Oh well, here's food for thought sh'll keep to dinner, but right now she has to go home to eat said went down the stairs, said goodbye to Sojiro and left, flying silently through the night.

* * *

When she arrived at the shrine, she found something she didn't want to see. Marisa was here, speed walking in countless circles with a look of worry, but mainly just Marisa being here and turning quickly, looking up at random times. Whatever she was waiting for, it seemed to fly.

"Don't be waiting for me, please... I just want to have a calm and quick dinner..."

When the witch saw her, her face lit up for a second with pure, unrestrained joy and relief before going back to it's usual smug confidence as if nothing happened.  
"Hey there Reimu! What took you so long, ze? Got a boyfriend now~?"

Her smirk and accusation would have normally irritated Reimu but since she just came back from Leblanc's, she was much more calm than usual and merely sighed softly.  
"What do you want?"

Marisa blinked a few times, almost owlishly. It was probably at how the maiden didn't even bother to furrow her brows when she'd normally have an urge to slap her across the face.  
"Well, I just wanted to come see my _best friend_, ze." The witch pressed on those words hard. "But I couldn't find you and decided to wait for your lazy butt to wake up. But you weren't asleep, so... Yeah, ze."

Of course she'd leave the worry part out out of pride.

"Well, I was just coming back from some extermination. Wasn't hard or tiring at all. Now I was just planning on having dinner."

"Mind if I join, ze?"

"Yeah."

While her words were the usual ones, the lack of spite shocked Marisa once more.  
"Woah, you good over there?"

"I'm prefectly fine. How about you?"  
That held a little sarcasm. Reimu wasn't in the mood to try doing such things right now, she just wanted to eat, so she walked inside of the Hakurei shrine while talking, knowing that Marisa would follow. She knew that she wouldn't leave to let her eat in peace, she never did.

"Ha ha, funny Reimu, ze. No but seriously, you usually want to cause mass genocide at the mere sight of my pretty mug but right now, you don't even look that irritated."

"I can get used to your antics, you know? It's only normal."

"Why didn't you get used to them in the few years prior then, ze?"

"It can take a while, depending on the person."  
She began to taka a look through the kitchen closets. What to eat...

"Still, your while was a few years long, ze. That's a bit too long, don't you think so?"

"I dunno. I don't meet many people who are used to your bullshit like me."

"Woah, watch out or you might have to wash your mouth with soap, ze."  
Her smirk grew a lot.

"Yeah, whatever mom. What do you want to eat?"

Marisa blinked. She minded her coming over at first but now she asked her what she wanted to eat? So she basically invited her to eat with her? That's... Very much unlike her.  
"Who are you and what have you done to Reimu, ze?"

The maiden turned around and raised an eyebrow while shooting the witch with a glare. One softer than usual, but one nonetheless.  
"Really?"

"Hey, in my defense you're never like this, ze."

Reimu merely sighed out of annoyance.  
"Tell me what you want to eat _then_ tell me about how I'm an alien and how you found out please."

Marisa couldn't help but laugh at that.  
"Okay, okay, ze. Whatchu got miss?"

Reimu took a slice of meat and some crackers and turned around to go to the stove while waving towards the kitchen closet, basically telling Marisa to just go look in there for herself. She eyed the other girl for a second before shrugging and going to go look for something to eat. While there wasn't much in there, there was still food, which was more than usually was in there. She was so stunned by that that she didn't even think to "borrow" some of that food.

"Wow, you're packed this time, ze."

"Thank you."

"That's not the answer I want and you know it. Are you getting a lot of donations lately?"

"Maybe."

Marisa frowned. She was used to vague, neutral toned conversation killers from the other one, but this time she wanted to know more. But she couldn't considering the state Reimu was in. She couldn't play off of her emotions like usual because she was too calm right now.

Her train of thought was stopped by the sound and smell of sizzling meat, making her realise just how hungry she was, so she placed her thoughts away for later and legitemately looked for something to eat. She ended up settling on a lot of vegetables, mainly mushrooms, that she put in one big pan to fry them. As their meals cooked, they shared crackers to satiate their hunger for now.

"So anyway, I guess you're not going to tell me where you were earlier?"

"Exterminating, told you already."

"... Alright then."  
Marisa was a little annoyed that her friend wouldn't trust her enough to tell her where she really was, she knew Reimu for long enough and well enough to tell when she's lying, but she was well aware that this friendship could easily be one-sided for good reasons so she didn't hold it again Reimu and let that topic go. Instead, they just waited silently for a bit.

Reimu was, strangely enough, the first one to speak up.

"You know, it feels good to not eat alone for once."

Marisa looked at the other girl as if she just... Well, considering the amount of stuff she could see that she was used to, there was not much she could use for that analogy.  
"Uh... What do you mean?"

"I always eat alone. Not tonight apparently."

"I come by sometimes."

"I never took the time to like your company. By the way, thanks, would have probably gone nuts with loneliness if not for you."

"Woah... Are you sure you're feeling well?"

Reimu glared at Marisa, her cheek a soft red.  
"I embarrass myself with an honest 'thank you' and this is what I get? Geez."

"Okay, okay, sorry. I'm just really not used to you being like that."

Reimu sighed, shaking her head, and turned around to check her cooking. Her steak was done now, fully coocked on both sides, so she took out a plate, along with a second one for Marisa, and put her dinner in her own plate. When the witch managed to get a good look at Reimu's face without her seeing her back, she saw her smiling. Reimu was happy in her presence. This was unprecedented. Wherever she went, whatever she did and whatever was done to her, it really changed her. And while she couldn't bring herself to accept that as good, a part of her, deep inside, told her that it was great news. Her being able to look past what Marisa usually did and enjoy her company was great news. But it was tuned out by the blaring "this isn't normal" alarms.

"And I'm not used to you not putting that annoying 'ze' at the end of almost every sentence of yours. Guess you were doing intentionnally."

Marisa cursed at her incompetence.  
"I don't see what you're talking about, ze."

Reimu couldn't hold back a snort.  
"Alright, alright. I'll be in the main room if you wanna come eat with me."

Marisa looked back at Reimu. This really was a wierd thing.

Reimu was happy.

While it was strange, it wasn't not welcome. Marisa really considered Reimu her best friend and it made her smile that she was happy, a few of her alarms turning off. She got her food, put it in her own plate before realising that there was too much but shrugging it off, and joined Reimu.

"I made a bit too much. Sorry about that, ze."

Reimu shrugged.  
"Guess I know what's for lunch tommorow then."

Marisa shrugged back and sat in front of the maiden to eat. Dinner was silent, but they were still enjoying each other's company. Reimu realised that it was enjoyable for the first time and Marisa wasn't being yelled at for once. It felt great.

"Guess happiness is in the small things."

"Huh?"

Reimu looked up from her food and at Marisa who blushed softly since she thought out loud.

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it, ze."

Thankfully for the witch, she only whispered it, so she wouldn't have to embarrass herself too much.

Dinner ended peacefully, Marisa's confusion completely forgotten.

* * *

**Wholesome dinner scene is wholesome and warms my heart. I updated the summary for one more detail: I know little about Touhou and what I know I learned from fanfics so it's probably biased.**

**Anyway, farewell, my subjects.**

**Your Saltyness.**


	4. What a first day

**I swear that I don't know what I'm doing and that I'm just hoping for some divine fucking willpower to fall upon me and get me to write something. Not even more often. Something.**

**Also I will go along with the fanfic personalities for now but I'd be overjoyed to get info and help on how to not be an unoriginal dumbass, at least by telling me what the girls's other traits are. I am too proud and stubborn and stupid to look up the mangas and read them. I wish I knew why so I could fix it.**

**When I said that I'd try to give them more of a character, I actually meant give them reasons to have the one character trait I know they** **have.**

* * *

Reimu slowly woke up and left her room. This must have been the most peaceful sleep she's had in years. Clad in nothing but some thick robes, she left her room to find Marisa, asleep in her living room, her cheek in her unfinished plate of veggies, snoring somewhat loudly. The shrine maiden raised an eyebrow and chuckled in amusement, sitting next to her and trying to softly shake her awake.  
"Hey, I never agreed to the sleepover you dumbass. Plus, you're being really dirty and stupid looking."

After a few minutes of trying and failing to wake Marisa up, and checking her breathing just to be sure, she decided to at least clean up her table and yank the plate from under the witch's head, who surprisingly still didn't wake up.  
"Geez, did she down an entire bottle of sleeping pills or something?"

Out of curiosity, she checked under her eyes to see some black marks. Yep, she had bags under her eyes. But what would make her not sleep well? Oh well, not her business, it's only Marisa's, so Reimu shrugged and went to finish cleaning the table, gather the leftovers and put the plate in the dirty tableware basket to clean this Sunday, and then left the place. But before she passed the door, she looked back at the sleeping girl, went back inside to get a piece of paper and a pencil and left Marisa a message when she flew away, giggling a little at her immature humor.  
It's still funny to imagine Marisa's face when she just wakes up and sees "bitch" written in front of her.

* * *

A minute later she arrived in front of LeBlanc. As she opened the door, the bell chimed softly, as usual, and she let out a sigh. She was surprised at how her sigh was. Usually, her sighs when arriving in the café were heavy, at best. But this one seemed regular. She touched her chest and breathed deeply, trying to get the rest of her usual sigh out, but she didn't manage to.

Sojiro came to stop her aimless wandering of where a sigh had gone to.  
"Hey. You're late."

Reimu raised her head quickly with surprise, since she was taken out of her thoughts rather abruptly, and bowed.  
"I-I'm sorry Boss, uh... A friend came over last night and I did not see time pass..."

The man merely chuckled softly.  
"Well, your punishment will be simple: spend the day in your outfit, and if a customer shows up, you'll have to at least say hello. In your work outfit."

The maiden blinked softly and blushed before letting out a groan a second later.

"Hey, you never wear it outside of the attic and hide when someone comes in, you need to get confident with it, and if I have to force you to at least say hi in it as a start, then so be it."

She opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't. He was right. This is her work outfit but she is highly reluctant to do actual work in it. So she sighed a bit, nodded and went back into the attic to change. A few minutes later, she came out with her outfit on, appreciating the comfort and how it doesn't show everything once more, but hating the glasses that started to hurt her ears after just a few minutes.  
Nothing out of the ordinary.

That's when a customer came in, making Reimu yelp softly because, she's been, once again, pulled out of her thoughts. She looked around, a little paniced, but Sojiro began talking.

"Hello. Here for the usual?"

"Yeah, I really need it, I got in an argument with my mother last night so I didn't sleep well..."

"You do have some bags under your eyes."

And so, Boss began to make coffee for the man with practiced ease. The customer sighed deeply and finally noticed Reimu.  
"Oh, hello there. Are you a new employee?"

This took the maiden by complete surprise and she couldn't talk for a bit, but then, here came Boss to the rescue again.  
"This is my niece, Rias. She came here not too long ago, and I thought that hiring her would help her become less socially akward. Don't mind her too much."

She couldn't help but fidget around nervously, nodding along with the lies Sojiro was making for her. The man gobbled them up.

"Aaahhh, I understand. Is she from outside too?"

"Yeah. I'd rather not develop, it's not my place to say."  
Sojiro winked at Reimu, or now, Rias.

"That's fair. Well, it's nice meeting you Rias. I hope you can break out of your shell soon." He smiled as honestly as he could before he broke down with a sigh, limping onto the counter as he groaned. "Tireeeed..."

This just made Sojiro chuckle in amusement as he poured coffee into a cup, though not as much as usual, and then completeld it with cold milk and a spoon for the man to mix it all with. It seems he didn't make any favors for anyone. But the man just took the spoon and absentmindedly started to mix his drink.

"U-uhm... If you're that... Tired... Why not go onto one of the tables? The... The seats there might be more... You know... Comfortable."

The customer looked at the employee with a raised eyebrow, making her die inside with shame, thinking that she said something she shouldn't have. But then he just smiled and nodded.  
"Yeah, you might be right. I could maybe even lay down if Boss lets me."  
That comment made him laugh a bit.

Sojiro shook his head. "Don't put your feet on the sofa, and if another customer comes in, sit up."

The customer nodded and got off his chair, stumbling a bit, before taking his cup and bringing his drink and himself to the closest table. He sighed, assesed the couch and nodded.  
"You were right, this is much more comfortable. Thanks Rias."

She nodded back a bit to say 'you're welcome', and hoped he'd get the message. The customer began to drink his cup, not letting it go until he went wide eyed and set it down, showing that it was almost empty. He wiped his face with his sleeve before he started talking. "I forgot to introduce myself to you, sorry! I'm Ito Daichi, I work at the bakery nearby. Hope I wasn't too rude."

'Rias' shook her hands in front of her wildly. "O-oh, uh, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. I-it's nice to meet you mister Daichi."

He laughed a bit. "Please, call me just Daichi. It's nice to meet you too."

Sojiro looked at Reimu and began to wonder where her actual anxiety stopped and her act started. But it wasn't his place to ask.

"Ah, Boss, I was wondering, will you go to the flower viewing? It's this weekend. I know you're new here and value the calm, but the thing's fun, and I kinda hoped to get to talk to you without the counter in between us."

Both employees completely forgot up until now, Reimu panicking more than Sojiro.

"Where will it be?"

"Oh, just the Hakurei shrine. Most events take place over there, because the Maiden does so much for us. I haven't seen her in a while though. Youkai are acting up a bit so we might soon, if they're not just being excited for the event."

Sojiro looked at 'Rias' who seemed to have shut down entirely, making him chuckle.  
"Don't worry, you can take care of yourself. I just want to be able to meet an old friend, I'll bring her back here to talk afterwards."

That caused the attention of both of the others to gravitate towards Boss.

"An old friend...? Aren't you from the outside though?"

Boss chuckled. "Yes, well... It's a long story."

The two others looked at each other with a mix of confusion and concern. Maybe a bit of fear. Who knows.

And then Reimu remembered, again, that she hasn't even began to work on the preparations for the festival and looked at Sojiro in extreme concern, but a sinple stare was not enough for him to understand so he simply raised an eyebrow. She sighed softly and shook her head, deciding to tell her when they're alone.

Today was going to be long. And with this job, all the days until the festival too. Sojiro could only tolerate her slacking off so much, even if she has a good reason to not be there.

* * *

**I will only take criticism for my schedule in the form of interpretative wolf howls. I'll take critism for the actual story in actual written english though please and thank you. And thanks to those that said that they would help me if I ever hit a big problem, really sorry about not writing for a long while, I already had an art block when it comes to drawing, so writing, which I do more rarely, was completely out of the question. Feels nice to write again though.**


	5. Such a selfish reason

**I'm so surprised that so many people seem to enjoy this story and support my laziness. No joke. Also, I may find excuses, but it's laziness. It's nothing else. I don't know why I'm lazy, I enjoy writing and I have too much free time, so... Yeah. Also uh... College is starting soon when I'm beginning to write this, and will most likely have started when I'm done, so that's going to make the already slow thing slower.**

* * *

It was indeed a long end of the week. Sojiro was nice enough to pay Reimu as long as she spent at least an hour in her work outfit without hiding herself, so it was a bit hard and usually took her whole afternoon to work up enough courage, with Boss nagging her to hurry up.

In the end, she was lacking emergency sake in case the onis decided to have one of their spontaneous drinking contests and some of the food was a bit undercooked or not the ripest, but it was still there and done. She ended up limping to her futon the evening before the event out of sheer exhaustion.

* * *

When she woke up, she had the most unusual sight which made her jump in surprise, thinking that it might be some creepy pervert that broke into her house to blackmail her or something. But all of that faded away when she saw what the message was.

"Asshole" with a tiny drawing of the author making a v with her fingers and holding her tongue out through a cheeky smile and a small star flying out as signature. The maiden grinned, giggled then full on laughed. Marisa must have planned this during all this time. Reimu dressed up and left her room to hear the sounds of the party and Marisa nibbling on a shroom while humming an upbeat tune. When she spotted the red woman, she simply flashed her her best, happiest and smuggest smile ever.

"How'd it feel to be the butt of that joke~?"

Reimu let out a leftover chuckle. "You deserve a slap on the cheek young miss."

Both women laughed with heart.

"So, I hear the party's already started?"

"Sanae wants you deader than ever for that, so get ready for a fight girl!"

"I'm ready for a war."

They both had sly grins on their faces.

"So, you going or nah?"

"Can't I enjoy the last bit of peace I'll have today?"

Marisa shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah I can respect that. I'm gonna get some booze. Only for myself, get out yourself if you want some. Kay?"

Reimu nodded and basked in the joy. She really missed out on a lot wish Marisa. She definitely knew how to take a joke well.

Why was she this slow to realise that she had a good friend near her?

Oh well, better late than never, she guesses, as she leaves the inside a few minutes after the witch.

"**REIMU HAKUREI!**"

Red looked at Green. "Huh, thought I'd have at least some time before you showed up."

"I had to do everything while you did nothing but sleep!"

Sanae was starting to get on the girl's nerves. "I was sleeping in because I worked so hard getting everything and making it all ready."

Sanae flinched and her angry expression cracked. "Wait what? But everything you have isn't as much quality as usual, and we have less sake than usual!"

"I've been multitasking."

"And what were you doing on the side then?"

"Personal stuff."

Sanae blinked a few times, stunned by how badly she messed up. But then, her anger came back and she pointed at Reimu with all her might. "You're just making up a story to get out of this, aren't you?!"

"Do I look like a good liar?"

"Eh-"

Reimu was indeed notoriously bad at lying for one simple reason: she never bothered. Too much effort. She would instead bash your skull in with the cold hard truth while looking as expressionless as whenever she is when she does not want to talk about something.

"W-well, uh... Drat. D-did you... Did you really?"

Reimu merely nodded and Sanae started bathing in shame over how she got wrongfully angry at an innocent. Well, in her defense, it was the first time Reimu had a good reason to slack off.

The thing is, the peaceful resolution disappointed the crowd around the two Maidens, for they expected and wanted to see a fight. Reimu could see in the back a very confused Sojiro who was dressed in clothing that definitely stood out: it was clearly from the outside and not many men around these parts would wear white and pink, as those are not manly colors. Now that attention was away from the fight that didn't happen, many people noticed him but just wrote him off as some outsider threw in here by Yukari who wanted to go back home thought the Hakurei Maiden.

* * *

Speaking of Sojiro and Yukari, when Boss heard the murmurs around him, he grinned and giggled a bit to himself. None understood why, as most outsiders brought here were scared or, at the very least, irritated, but never amused. But he wasn't questioned about it as it was none of their business.

The man looked around the party. Reimu wasn't lying when she said that probably everyone came to these. There were so many people, he knew that there were probably a few villages but there couldn't be that many people, and right now, there were as many people as there are in the subways during rush hour. Only this time they weren't being cynical, stressed and rude. They were all nice, having fun, drinking, singing, dancing and playing together. The contrast from the city's ambience made him smile.

Boss started looking around, hoping to find the person he was looking for. The reason he even asked to be brought here in the first place. It was selfish of him, and he knew it. He would be staying here for as long as he wanted because he needed to just see a person and confirm a single thing. He had no reason to stay once that was done. But he decided to go along with it. And he did not see the person he was looking for.

Oh well, he might as well go see Reimu then.

And so he looked for her. But she too wasn't here. Well until a local villager came to him, assuming he was here to be brought back to the Outside world, and told him that he could probably find Reimu behind the shrine, as she often went there when there are too many people for her taste. After properly thanking the man, he went where he was told Reimu was. But the first thing he noticed as he came closer to the back of the shrine was a familiar aura, accompanied by the proper smell and voice.

Looks like he found who he was looking for. He turned around the corner and went a bit wide eyed when he saw her talking to Reimu, apparently teasing her about her anti-social nature, but mainly sitting on some sort of tear through space-time which lead to a void of eyes. He quickly got his composure back though.

"So that's where you've been."

* * *

Reimu expected her. The Gap Hag. She always came during festivals. She usually came more often, almost weekly, but recently she stopped, but she wasn't complaining since it meant less meaningless and outright mean teasing. And when Sojiro came, speaking to her, she was about to tell him to quiet down, but then she realised. He wasn't talking to her. He wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at the one who was teasing her.

"A-ah... Sojiro... I-I... I didn't expect you here."

Reimu looked at the woman again, cleaned her ears, wiped her eyes and pinched herself to make sure she wasn't seeing things or dreaming. The unflappable woman, the master of trolls, was looking embarrassed, no, ashamed. But it didn't take a genius to know that she isn't ashamed of much, if anything. Plus, she knew Sojiro's name? This is a lot to take in.

"Yukari. Yukari Yakumo... I haven't seen you in a while."

Reimu just blanked.

"Sojiro..."

"You know, I chose to spend my afterlife here because of you."

"S-Soji... Sojiro, I-"

"I'm not here to make you apologise. Not to rub guilt in your face. I only came here for one thing: to know if the woman I knew was the real you."

There was a tense silence, broken by Yukari sighing.

"I wasn't lying to you..."

"You were. By omission. But it's no matter. You often did that after all."

"Sojiro please... I didn't want to leave."

"Considering how often you went to the pond, I figured as much."

"I... I hope you'll-"

"I've already forgiven you, long ago. I was just still somewhat confused. But I moved on. You don't seem to have moved on. I was somewhat worried you would be like that."

Yukari clicked her tongue and looked away.

"You don't know anything..."

"No, apparently, if what you're sitting on is any indication. But now that I am a ghost, I've got all the time in the world to hear your explanation."

The woman sighed. "I... I just..."

The two sat in silence again, Sojiro waiting for Yukari to finish and Yukari failing to make any words leave her throat.

Sojiro sighed deeply and turned around. "How about this: if you come to the café before the end of the week, we can talk it out. But if you don't, I will act as if we never met."

He started walking away and Reimu saw Yukari, usually the oh-so-powerful and untouchable godess, barely stopping herself from reaching out towards the man before she jumped in her gap which closed after her.

...

...

...

What the fuck.

* * *

**Well, college did start, but it, ironically enough, got my inspiration back up. Also thank all of you for liking and supporting this story. The problem for my writing was never a lack of inspiration or time, my schedule was (and still somewhat is) generous, and I love what I have with this story, I want to continue it. But each time I get the opportunity, I either stay bored on youtube, go talk to friends on discord or go draw a bit. Sadly, there is none to blame other than myself for the lack of uploads.**

**Also, if you're ever worried: this will probably never be discontinued. I love this story, like I said before. I have such interesting ideas that I want to explore more by actually writing them and share with the world. Plus, there is definetly a lack of calm fics. there's the action and the non-stop crazy romance, man, I just want to be able to spend all my time doing nothing but talking and shit. I want to be able to breathe while reading a fic. And if I have to be the one writing this fic, then so be it. It's why I started writing it in the first place.**

**Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm getting in the very dangerous territory. This is why there is a Sojiro and Yukari romance tag. And I have no clue what I'm doing. If I butcher your waifu, please, along with the death threat, send me how to fix my mistakes. Blind hate won't get me to improve.**

**I haven't gotten any blind hate yet, but just in case.**

**I'm still very surprised that all the review I have are so nice and (aside from a single one which I don't mind) so cunstructive, ready to give me tips and telling me to take my time. I'm honestly stunned. I thought I was walking on a minefield but you guys have apparently dug them all out. Thank each and every one of you for sending me support, links towards wikis and media with the Touhou girls, I am simply grateful.**

**And on this sweet note,**

**Farewell, my subjects,**

**Your Saltyness.**


	6. The ride's new start

This chapter was a bumpy ride, but I can't thank Derago enough for volunteering to be my beta reader. I promise, or at the very least, pray to my hopes and soul that this is a good chapter now. I won't fuck it up like I did before.

* * *

Reimu had trouble sleeping.

A single interaction gave her so much to think about after all. Sojiro and Yukari knew each other? And something happened that made Yukari akward around Sojiro? The most confident woman she's ever met, the queen of trolls, akward? It felt unreal. She thought it was a strange dream. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself that it was too stupid to be real, she couldn't deny it: she saw and heard all of that. So, she was troubled by her imagination and slept little during the night.

When the shrine maiden woke up, she could only guess how Boss and Gap Hag must be feeling.

She looked at herself in the mirror, checking out the bags under her eyes and not bothering to comb her hair for more than a single minute, so it was straight enough to be passable, yawned deeply and grabbed a piece of bread which she munched on as she dressed up. With a final yawn, she flew out to her job, finishing her breakfast while her mind was lost in thought. Once she landed in the backstreets, making sure nobody saw her, she began walking around until she reached her destination, that being the small café lost in the lonely streets. And for the first time ever, when she passed the door and heard the soft bell jingling, she didn't lose all her tension, as the question of "what is Sojiro's history with Yukari" could not leave her.

Sojiro saw Reimu and merely nodded at her as a polite, silent greeting, which she returned before going to the attic to change into her work clothes. A good 5 minutes later she was back down, looking like another person named Rias.

"Did you not sleep well?"

Reimu nearly jumped when she heard Boss talk to her as she was in full autopilot up until now. "O-oh, uh, Boss, uh... N-no, not really."

"I can see that. Is it because of what Yukari and I said to each other?"

She looked to the side awkwardly. Sojiro hummed thoughtfully. "So that is it. I can understand, just don't let it get in the way of your work. I don't want to lose a customer."

She nodded weakly, hoping that she won't mess up today. A hand was felt on her shoulder and she looked up to see Sojiro giving her a comforting smile. "You'll get your first taste of what makes this job hard: keeping up a facade for the customers, even if you feel like trash. Just do your best for now, I can cover small mess ups. Since you haven't slept much, we could say that yesterday made you scared since I wasn't with you and that's why Rias had trouble sleeping, even though we both know why Reimu couldn't sleep, alright?"

She sighed and nodded, looking back at Sojiro. She could see his comforting smile better now, and she felt calmer, her body still tense, but less this time.

* * *

Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, there were more customers at Le Blanc now than before. Seeing an outsider at the flower viewing festival looking for Reimu yet still be in Gensokyo afterwards must have piqued more than one's curiosity, leading to them coming to the café. It was still small, calm and quiet, but now it wasn't unusual to see around 10 customers at once.

After a few days, a first happened in the small café from the outside: a yokai entered the place. In fact, it was more than one. There were two, accompanied by a human, and one of them was extremely reluctant, as well as tired to the point where she looked ready to crumble at any point. That one was, in fact, in what looked like light purple sleepwear, had blue and red ribbons on her clothing and in her long, straight lavender hair, which was the same color as her eyes, a metallic yellow crescent moon on her cap and her skin was sickly pale. She was being dragged by a young looking woman with huge bat wings coming out of her back. Her slightly wavy light blue hair reached her shoulders and her clothing was a dress and cap made out of pink silk, with red tissue accentuating the colors and being tied into bows behind her. Hey eyes were red and piercing, yet still held some mischievous, juvenile glint. The last woman was obviously a maid, with her straight and composed posture and outfit fitting it perfectly. Her dress was a deep blue, except for the white frills. Her long silver hair was tied up in braids tied up with green ribbons that went down in front of her shoulders and reached her chest. Her eyes were a cloudy gray, which got Sojiro to think about the past a bit, as this eye color was the same as the one that the kid he hosted had.

"Lady Remilia, why did you bring me here…"

"You need to get out more, and I wanted to visit this place, so I decided to get two birds with one stone. It's not exactly the worst place either, is it?"

"No, since it's not a bustling thing, but still. This is costing me research time."

While both of the yokai were distracted, the human of the group breathed deeply and closed her eyes in serenity.

"Well, it matters little. You're not getting away, and we've come this far, so I'm taking you with me through to the end Patchouli!"

The sick-looking woman would only sigh deeply and nod as she gave up. The trio then came up to the man behind the bar. There was also a woman working here, but she went into the attic when they arrived.

"Hello sir. May we get a table please?"

"Just sit where there's space. Try not to bother the rest of the customers too much."

"Thank you sir. We will pick our orders in a bit."

The trio looked for a place to sit, and a table just emptied since it's only two occupants got up to leave when they looked in their direction. They shuffled around a bit in the tight space in order to sit.

"Sorry about that. I'm still wondering if I should expand the shop, but I'm afraid it might take some of it's soul out."

"I understand, it definitely looks like it would be much different if it was bigger. May we know what we can order?"

The man merely pointed up, showing that there was what could be ordered written on signs above the counter. The young looking woman nodded as thanks, earning a nod back.

Patchouli bounced a bit on the seat and found it to not be perfect, as it showed signs of use for obvious reasons, but they were quite comfortable.

"Oh, before I forget, let me introduce us. I am Remilia Scarlet, owner of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. These are Sakuya Izayoi, my loyal maid, and Patchouli Knowledge, a friend of mine which I house." Both of the others made a sign when pointed out.

"I'm Sojiro Sakura, but everyone calls me Boss. Nice to meet you." He wasn't rude, but did keep a distance, not wanting to seem too friendly.

"It is an honor to meet you sir Sakura. It is not everyday you get to meet someone from outside, especially not me, who does not leave my home often. But, I heard that you were looking for Reimu during the festival. Did you not find her?"

He sighed a bit, as he was asked this question many times. Thankfully, a client from behind Sakuya answered for him. "Boss is actually a ghost who was granted a place here from the Ministry of Right and Wrong. And since he's dead outside, he can't go back there." Sojiro nodded to confirm the story, earning him a smile from the customer as he went back to his meal.

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear it. How did you die?"

"Lung cancer."

Not knowing what it is as she wasn't a medical professional and cancer isn't common knowledge thanks to Gensokyo being stuck in a much older time period, Remilia merely nodded.

"So, what'll you get?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. I will take coffee, with a bit of milk, please."

"I'll just have as much of your strongest coffee as you can get me."

"Just some tea for me. Earl gray, if you don't mind."

Boss nodded and started making the three women their drinks. The tension that came along with them, since they are three women from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, including its owner, started to dissipate, as all tension usually does in Le Blanc. Patchouli was unceremoniously bent over and resting her upper body on the table, Remilia was softly humming while waiting and Sakuya breathed deeply, much more than usual when she was serene. Remilia noticed but did not do anything, merely smiled some more as she was happy her maid could finally rest properly. A few minutes later, they found their drinks in front of them in cups for Remilia and Sakuya, and a bowl for Patchouli. They were a bit surprised at the unusually shaped cups, but did not say anything, instead blowing on their drinks or letting them rest so they cool down, only drinking them once they thought they wouldn't get burned. Patchouli still burned her tongue a bit as she really wanted that coffee.

The women were stunned to find that the coffee was the best they ever tasted, but Sakuya wouldn't know as she didn't drink it. Instead, her shoulders relaxed for the first time in forever, and she went a bit limp in her seat once she put her cup down. And this time not even Patchouli could ignore it.

"Sakuya? You okay over there?"

She poked her shoulder and shook her arm a bit to try and get a reaction, and that reaction was a soft grunt and the maid closing her eyes, looking ready to fall asleep. This made Patchouli stunned for the second time in less than 5 minutes.

"Hang on… She's never like this. Even my relaxation spells don't work on her! What's going on here?"

The entire café turned towards the trio to find nothing strange, other than Patchouli panicking over nothing.

"Give me a moment… I'm feeling tired all of a sudden…" Sakuya let out a huge yawn, though she didn't forget to cover her mouth. A few realised what was wrong, but they didn't feel like putting energy into caring about something so small. Patchouli however…

She got up and went around the café with a book open, muttering to herself. Boss and his clients looked at her with confusion and curiosity.

"Uh… What are you doing?"

"You've done something to Sakuya, I just know it. She is never this relaxed. There must be a spell, an enchantment, something to explain why she's acting like this!"

Boss scratched his neck awkwardly. "Well, there isn't. At least not as far as I know…"

Suddenly he found a night cap in his nose and piercing eyes looking into his soul.

"You've done something. I know it. I can't find it right now, but I will, believe me."

Remilia laughed loudly in the background. "Well, I'd say that this was a success! This place is just like in the rumors, and it piqued Patchouli's interest, making it so that she'll get out more! Don't you agree?"

Even Remilia, who had accepted what was going on, was a bit shocked to find Sakuya sleeping soundly on the café's seat.

* * *

It was the end of the week. Le Blanc was close to closing up. Reimu was enjoying some coffee while Boss was finishing his crosswords.

That's when she finally arrived in the café. The bell jingled softly, and Boss put down his newspaper to get ready to tell whoever came in to get out as they were about to close, but then he saw who it was.

Yukari had seen better days. her hair was a mess, her usual hat was missing, she had bigger than usual bags under her eyes and her umbrella was closed and hanging from her hand instead of it being open and over the shoulder like usual.

"Hello..."

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Back to struggling with your insomnia?"

The near-goddess sighed. "I'm sorry... I know we worked on that so hard, but-"

"Don't beat yourself up about it. Rias, mind leaving us alone?"

Reimu, who'd been standing there awkwardly, jumped up at being called and nodded before quickly leaving the café.

She awkwardly walked as fast as she could around the human village, searching for a safe place to fly up from. Once she found one, she sighed deeply and got out of her shock. So she realised that she was still wearing her work uniform. She was away from the shop, as Rias, and there was no way she could go back inside now. So, somewhat fearfully, she tried to find her way out of the human village by foot.

* * *

"So... You must have questions, right?"

Sojiro nodded. "The main one is why."

Yukari sighed once more. "Yokai and gods only have so much time outside without faith available..."

"And what happens if you stay outside for too long?"

"I would lose my powers, grow weaker and weaker... Then disappear."

Sojiro was a bit shocked at how extreme that was, but nodded. "A-and... Why didn't you come back at some point?"

"You should know better than anyone..."

Sojiro's gaze softened and his eyes closed halfway. "Right... Guilt. You have a bad habit of being stuck in the past and letting your ghosts haunt you instead of making peace with them..."

"Ever since that day I've been having trouble getting out of bed... I messed up so badly... I should have just told you everything... And I didn't want to mess up another relationship."

Sojiro wanted to tell her that she didn't mess up their relationship but even he couldn't believe that. It wasn't ruined, at least not on his side, but a decade long silence was definitely the sign that a relationship was messed up.

"I forgave you."

"Why would I believe that? I left without a warning, without a sign."

Sojiro sighed deeply and, out of habit, began making coffee. Yukari gave him a weird look before chuckling to herself.

"You're right. We're going to need it."

Boss chuckled softly back, as he took out some old memories in the form of a cup and a bowl, the cup being a solid black aside from the soft white wave patterns near the bottom, and the bowl being coral pink on the top, the color fading away in cherry blossom patterns until it revealed a solid white background not even a quarter of the way down the bowl.

When the bowl was put in front of Yukari, her eyes widened as she took the pottery and looked it over, tracing it's bottom with her finger to find it completely clean.

"Sojiro... You kept them?"

"I'm honestly more surprised you didn't take your bowl. You refused to drink anything if it wasn't in it."

Both mature people laughed a bit as they recalled the time they spent together and Yukari did indeed not want to drink anything if it wasn't from her bowl, though there were a few exceptions.

"You took good care of it too. There's no dust on it."

"I don't like letting my memories get dusty."

The two sat in silence as the coffee was made and poured. Boss then gave his client half of a sugar cube and some milk, making her smile.

"You remember."

"Of course I do. It ended up being muscle memory. It's not hard to get it back out again."

As she mixed her coffee with what she was given, she nodded and smiled nostalgically.

"You know, I think I still love you."

The suddenness of the sentence made Sojiro flinch as he filled his cup, spilling some coffee on his hand and burning him. This made Yukari panic and go around the corner to check up on him as Sojiro put his hand under cold water with a soft grumble.

"Oh my goodness I-I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, it's alright, I should have expected it. It just took me off guard. Besides, I've had much, much worse. Even in front of you."

Yukari sighed sadly. "Still... I hurt you."

Sojiro pat Yukari softly. "You didn't. Nobody did."

The woman sighed and looked away sadly as the man took his hand out of her hair.

"I have to say that these were some of the best years of my life too. I loved you just as much."

"I know there's a but..."

"Well... I'm not sure what I want right now. I didn't expect to be able to meet you ever again, much less talk to you like this."

The yokai sighed deeply. "I knew it... I never should have done this... I never should have met you..."

She suddenly found her cheeks cupped by rough but gentle strong hands, one of them being wet with cold water, but the problem of the temperature went away as hers rose from a soft blush.

"Now, what did we say? You're not responsible for everything in the world, and you should not cry over the past. Us meeting was a blessing, even if our... Break up, was nowhere near perfect. Okay?"

She looked up at him and found his face looking at her softly, with no ire or pain, simply concern and a wish to help. Yukari couldn't help but tear up.

"B-but... I..."

She suddenly found herself wrapped by arms she never thought she would feel like this again. Her own couldn't help but grab onto them.

"You messed nothing up. I don't hate you. I forgave you long ago. Understood?"

His voice was firm and didn't leave room for arguing, so Yukari just nodded idly.

He slowly let her go but she couldn't let go of his hand. And while he didn't push her away he didn't hold hers back.

"So... Yeah. I don't know yet. It's a lot to think about, you should know better than anyone else, right?"

She nodded again, this time with a hum.

"I just need time. It's not a no. But I need time to think."

She sighed softly and looked away again.

"I just wish I could have brought myself to tell you back then..."

* * *

"Please don't be here please don't be here please don't be here..."

Marisa was sitting on the shrine's roof.

"Damnit!"

Reimu made sure to whisper as she talked to herself and put her glasses back on to become Rias once more as she walked towards the shrine. Marisa spotted her and squinted to make sure that she was seeing right. Was this Reimu or not? She didn't know. So she flew down to the girl.

"Hey there, ze! What're you doing Reimu, my best buddy old pal~?"

"U-uh... Who's... Wh-who? O-oh, Reimu? A-ah, I'm... Looking for her, actually."

Marisa raised an eyebrow at this poor attempt at lying. "Really, ze? And why is that?"

"W-well, uh... My... M-my uncle was here d-during the... Festival, and... He enjoyed his time here, so... I wanted to make a donation."

Her eyebrow rose higher. "Uh huh? And who is this 'uncle' of yours little miss, ze~?"

"Suh... Sojiro... Sojiro Sakura, he's... A café owner from outside. W-we both are."

"Oh? Well, if he met Reimu, why are the both of you still here? You could have left very easily."

"Well, uh... W-we're..." She coughed awkwardly. "We're dead..."

Marisa was taken back a bit by how absurd of a lie that was. "Dead people don't come to Gensokyo, ze."

"W-well, Sojiro did something good, I-I don't really know what, so he was owed a favor by the people of the... Ministry of something?"

The witch sat on her broom and put a finger on her chin as she thought. This was either the worst lie from how improbable it is, or the best lie, because of how improbable it is. "Well, where can I find your uncle then?"

"Oh, it's a small building in the backstreets of the village not too far. The place is called Le Blanc, it's quiet and really nice, though after the festival we've had more customers..."

Marisa nodded along. This was a lot of details. This lie would be too easy to break. Reimu was notoriously bad at lying after all. But if this wasn't Reimu, and this was the truth...

Well, this whole thing would be at the very least awkward.

"Ah, gotcha then, ze."

"So... Is Reimu not around then?"

"Nope. She's a girl in red, over-the-top clothes, so she's hard to miss. With those bare elbows and big bow in her hair of hers. I don't get how she managed to go around like that, I'm already having hard enough of a time with this dress and hat sometimes... I love them to death, but they're big and get in the way."

Rias giggled silently. "Yeah, from what I've seen, outside clothes are definitely better..."

Marisa couldn't help but agree. If what the girl in front of her is wearing is what people from outside wear, yeah, that's definitely less of a burden. Which reminds her... "Forgot to introduce myself, I'm Marisa Kirisame, ze! I'm just a humble, ordinary magician." She even took off her hat and put it on her chest as she bowed.

Rias blinked a few times. "Oh, right. I'm, uh... Rias. Rias Sakura. And, uh... From what I've seen, the outside world has a very... Different criteria, for humble."

Marisa snorted a laugh. "Yeah, the outside world is very different from here. But when you see monsters choosing to take the form of girls of different ages on the daily, you tend to forget what humility and normality are, right ze?"

"It... Makes sense, yes. A-anyway, wh-where can I do a donation, s-since Reimu herself isn't here?"

Marisa pointed at the donation box. Rias gave the witch a polite nod before going to put 100 yen in it.

"That's not a lot, ze."

"If I put more Sojiro will kill me... He wants me to start learning how to save money... B-but even so little is good, right?"

Marisa nods, knowing that Reimu needs every cent she can get. Rias then walks back and starts to look around, to admire the scenery, as part of her act as a new person. However, it made her realise that she never really admired the scenery in a long time, and she forgot how absolutely gorgeous it actually is.

"Well? Aren't you going?"

"A-ah! Sorry, I... I was just admiring the view."

The witch laughed a bit. "You know, you can just refer to me by my name ze~"

Rias blushed. "Wh-what?! I didn't mean it like that at all!"

Marisa then entered a laughing fit from Rias' fully red face and high-pitched voice. "Yep, you're definitely not Reimu, ze! She would never get that flustered over a tease, ze!"

Reimu blinked a few times before holding back a sigh of relief. "A-ah? Well, I'm glad you don't mistake me for someone else then..."

The both of them went silent for a while as Marisa kept waiting for Reimu and Rias kept watching the horizon.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, kid?"

"No, not really. The shop's closed, as long as I come back before 11 I should be good. What about you? Are you waiting for someone or something?"

"Spot on, I'm waiting for Reimu so I can ask her if we can have a... Uh... Well I guess I can tell you since you're quiet, ze, a sleepover. Second one."

"This late?"

"Yeah, sleepover right now, ze. Is that weird?"

"Yeah, it's usually something you plan out, right? To make sure that the friend you're having it with isn't busy that night."

Marisa blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Yeah, well, the girl has been busy everyday recently! I can never as much as see her because she's always out 'exterminating', ze. I know she's lying but I don't know what she's really doing, or if she's not even doing anything and avoiding me. We just got closer as friends so now- Wait, why am I telling you all of this? Arg, this is stupid, I'm gone, ze!"

Marisa then got on her broom and flew away before Rias had any time to understand what just happened. But Reimu knew that she would spend the next few days feeling guilty that Marisa, the closest she has to a best friend, was hurt by her not being there.

* * *

I don't have any excuses. I messed up, this is my fault, and thus this chapter was a strange adventure. Hope you all can pardon me.

Farewell, my subjects,

Your Saltyness.


End file.
